As pandemics fuel the world's appetite for high-tech products, the chips used in our PC components have become a myth. And as manufacturers scramble to fill supply shortages, John Peddie Research warns about the dangers of overcompensation.

"The risk," says Peddie, "is that semiconductor manufacturers will be lured into overreacting and suddenly believe that hundreds of millions of new users will appear and demand will remain high. Not only is that unrealistic, it is also untrue.

This may be a pessimistic outlook, but it is based on experience.

This may be the first time a global pandemic has affected chip shortages, but it is not the first time we have seen an overreaction to increased demand; in 2018, Nvidia's stock price plummeted as sales fell short of expectations and cryptocurrency-related GPU sales crashed.

Now we are just emerging from a similar spike, thanks to a number of intersecting factors that have toppled the market and shaped the tragic state of PC manufacturing today.

But John Peddie and his ilk are convinced that pandering to increased demand is a bit of a trap; Nvidia and AMD seem more hesitant than before to pander to the demand for cryptocurrencies.